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My batteries are getting a little long in the tooth. I have had really good luck with the Rayovac Hybrids they seem to be honest with there numbers and are fairly well matched. AA come in at around 2100 aaa 900 The aa work amazingly well in my camera. I know I probably wont get the higher numbers with the pre-charged type .But at least you can keep them in things you dont use all of the time. Anyway I would appreciate any input on some good batteries The selection out there reads like Chinese takeoutThanks ,Kurt

I've had pretty much equal amounts of "luck" with brands like Energizer, own label items from Biltema and who-the-hell stuff from Co/Tech. The trick lies in taking care of them, not so much in the name.

If you're using a plug-into-the-wall charger you're almost certainly damaging them each and every time you recharge them, even more so if you do this in multiples. A proper cycling charger with both peak and temperature sensing will do wonders and may even bring knackered cells back to a semblance of life and keep them out of the rubbish bin. Oh yes, and "fast charging" commercial AAs and AAAs will trash them in short order. Sorry John

I'm a heavy user of two GPS units. I've finally settled on the Sanyo eneloop batteries as being the best option. Sanyo is very honest with their capacity numbers. The eneloop cells also hold a charge for several months with very little self-discharge, which is important if you have extra cells that don't see constant usage. About a 18 months ago, the Sanyo cells were the only ones being built in Japan where the quality control is excellent ... that was the tipping point.

My main charger is a LaCrosse BC-1000 (no longer available as a new product). Recently I needed to charge more than four cells at a time, so bought a LaCrosse BC-700 unit which is every bit as good as the previous model. I've stopped using the higher charge rates and only use the 500mAh rates, so both units function the same for my application. Both units will only work off household voltage ... hasn't been a problem since I have more cells than necessary.

I can recommend the above components without any reservation. There are other good chargers available ... John's MaHa charger is a good one, just a little too expensive for my application. What ever you buy, just make sure they charge each cell separately at a low charge rate ... a charge rate of 20 to 25% of cell capacity works well with negligible heat build up in the cells when charging. As others have already stated, heat is the enemy of longevity. My eneloop cells are approximately 18 months old and still don't show any reduction in capacity.

This charger that you're looking at really has no intelligence in its charging - fixed 500mA then trickle charge is bum basic. Even the finest cells aren't going to too well served by this approach (although the discharge -> charge option is better than nothing).

Whilst the low self discharge cells sound good, the only benefit from this is if you're not using the cells regularly such that they sit on the shelf or in a unit for months on end without use. If you are frequently using them then they'll never get to make use of this advantage.

Again (and for the last time ) - money spent on a good charger will benefit all your cells - present and future.

Thanks for saving me Mike. (again). Sam , these chargers sound great. Nice that they charge Li-Ion also.and I am not a big fan of bells and whistles.Plug and Play is good. (compared to la crosse) OK I see that enloop has some aa in the 2500 range, but only have a charge life of 500 as compared to 1000 of one type and the newer type states 1500 charges Price is about the same, or close enough. Replacing the the cells more often does not bother me ,but is it worth it to get 500 more in storage capacity? any thoughts?PS just found thischarger>http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sysmax-Nitecore-i4-Intellicharger-Ver-2-New-Version-Ships-from-USA-Ultimate-/251016742137 comes with dc cord (i also have a little balance in my paypal account to use,which doesnt hurt)

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